My first test load - Comments welcome!

[geigersd]

I've gotten to the point of making up my first .223 load. Here are the statistics, comments from you experienced reloaders are welcome. These will be fired in my Mini-14 with a 1-10 twist barrel. Since this is my first time reloading, my main goal is to be able to safely and reliably fire these rounds:

Cartridge: Rem-UMC (Decapped, cleaned, full-length resizing, trimmed to 1.750)
Primer: CCI #400 Small rifle
Bullet: Hornady 55 gr FMJ-Boat Tail
Powder: Hogdon H322
Starting load is 21.0 gr. Increment by .2 gr to a maximum of 22.8 gr. Ten rounds will be loaded per powder weight. Maximim load according to Hogdon is 23.0 gr.
Seating: I plan to seat each cartridge to an OAL of 2.226. My reasoning for this is to ensure the case mouth is halfway covering the cannelure prior to crimping. Per Hogdon, mimimum OAL is 2.200. Per Lyman maximum OAL is 2.260.
Crimp: Taper crimp using Lee FCD.

I've attached pictures of some not yet crimped dummy cartridges I made up to get my bullet seating depth correct. These rounds fit my magazine and manually chamber and eject without difficulty.

I am waiting on the arrival of my case length/headspace gauge, all cartridges will be checked using it. All measurements up to this point have been done using a digital caliper.

Any comments are welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[rfwobbly]

Check that. Not looking at a book, but my notes here say max load for H322 is 24.3gr with a 55gr bullet.

Check your rounds in your mags.

Looks good. Go slow. Keep good notes. Have fun!

 

[Walkalong]

Sounds and looks good. I don't see any crimp though. Must be very light. Agh, I missed it. "not yet crimped" My bad.

Here is a pic (not as good as yours) of one of my plinking rounds with a Taper crimp.

 

[ole farmerbuck]

I've attached pictures of some not yet crimped dummy cartridges I made up to get my bullet seating depth correct. These rounds fit my magazine and manually chamber and eject without difficulty.


There ya go,

 

[ole farmerbuck]

Woops. I missed where you said you missed it.

 

[twofifty]

Great start, very organized thinking as well.

You've got 100 shiny new rounds...but have used up a whole box of bullets.

Things to consider:
- you can test loads with fewer than 10rds per loading increment: many go for 5rds, a few test 3rds per loading increment.
- your pow increments are .2gr. Many test increments that are a bit further apart, say .3gr, which also saves bullets, powder and primers and still gives valid sampling. The bigger the case, the further apart your load sampling weights can be.
- a technique that saves time and supplies at the very start of load development is the Ladder Test.
- another technique that allows consistent testing is to fire the test rounds in a round-robin fashion at multiple targets, one target per loading.
- look up Optimum Charge Weight, another superb technique to find the most accurate loading/seating combo.

 

[geigersd]

rfwobbly - Thanks. I'll do more research on the H322. I am well below the max, but don't want to go too low!

Walkalong - Looks like you have your cannelure seated deeper than mine. Should I be using more of it (without going below minimum OAL), seating deeper before crimping?

 

[geigersd]

twofifty - Thanks for the tips. I only did up the three dummies so far. I did download a doc describing the Ladder Test, but have not read it through. I could load less rounds for testing, and take a box of store bought to the range to satisfy my plinking desires after I shoot my test loads. These are my first reloads, so I'm trying to make sure my process and measurements are good.

 

[Walkalong]

Walkalong - Looks like you have your cannelure seated deeper than mine

It varies.

I trimmed to 1.750, but the cannelures are all over the place on these Winchester 55 Gr FMJ bullets. I had to play with the seating depth so all the case mouths would fall in the cannelure somewhere. Some are low, some are in the middle, and some are high.

 

[rfwobbly]

...but the cannelures are all over the place...

This is true.